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Started By
Message
Need help increasing Bench Press numbers.
Posted on 10/2/17 at 10:28 am
Posted on 10/2/17 at 10:28 am
Having a hard time gaining strength on my bench.
Talked to a guy that said I may not be taking in enough calories on my current diet. For reference I eat 1800 calories a day. Reason being I was extremely obese (420 pounds) almost two years ago. I weight in at 305 now and need a extreme calorie deficient diet to continue to lose fat as my body has adjusted to the weight loss.
Sample workout (Don't hate I'm pretty weak in bench)
135 x 15
165 x 12
185 z 10
225 x 5(have only been able to get to three reps here for the last 5 weeks)
I do this weekly
Some options I've heard
Do more pushups daily
Work chest twice a week
Take more pre-workout Creatine Bcaas etc.
Talked to a guy that said I may not be taking in enough calories on my current diet. For reference I eat 1800 calories a day. Reason being I was extremely obese (420 pounds) almost two years ago. I weight in at 305 now and need a extreme calorie deficient diet to continue to lose fat as my body has adjusted to the weight loss.
Sample workout (Don't hate I'm pretty weak in bench)
135 x 15
165 x 12
185 z 10
225 x 5(have only been able to get to three reps here for the last 5 weeks)
I do this weekly
Some options I've heard
Do more pushups daily
Work chest twice a week
Take more pre-workout Creatine Bcaas etc.
Posted on 10/2/17 at 10:36 am to mindbreaker
I feel like you may be using up a lot of energy on your warm-ups. You're lifting a combined 5000 pounds worth of warmup reps before you even get to your working weight. Add in that you're already eating at a deficit and it's no wonder you don't have energy to lift things at the end.
Posted on 10/2/17 at 10:40 am to mindbreaker
quote:
Talked to a guy that said I may not be taking in enough calories on my current diet. For reference I eat 1800 calories a day.
I've dropped 30 lbs this year, most of which came during the past 3 months. My max decreased on all of my big lifts during that time. It's been frustrating but it is something that most fitness guides will tell you is going to happen.
Just focus more on maintaining as much strength as possible. Another strategy is seriously dialing back the weight and trying to hit goals with an AMRAP.
Posted on 10/2/17 at 10:52 am to mindbreaker
Doing too much on warm up.
Bar 10x
135 5x
175 3x
200 1x
225 x amrap
You are most likely inefficient with your movement. You should look up proper technique for powerlifting.
Bench at least twice a week and get on an actual program.
Your calories are fine.
Bar 10x
135 5x
175 3x
200 1x
225 x amrap
You are most likely inefficient with your movement. You should look up proper technique for powerlifting.
Bench at least twice a week and get on an actual program.
Your calories are fine.
Posted on 10/2/17 at 11:02 am to Hu_Flung_Pu
quote:
You are most likely inefficient with your movement. You should look up proper technique for powerlifting.
That was my first step because it was a concern of mine. I film my reps now and watch the video back to correct it.
I'll try to lessen the warm-ups to see what happens.
Posted on 10/2/17 at 11:30 am to mindbreaker
Post up the video if you want or send it to me. Huflungpu46 @ gmail.com
Posted on 10/2/17 at 11:40 am to mindbreaker
Get on an actual program, a proven program. This thread has a very good list of good programs.
Second, you need to get your diet straight. If you are having to consume 1800 calories to lose weight at 305 pounds, you either have the worse metabolism known to man or you have metabolic damage.
How much do you love around during the day? How much tv do you watch on a weekly basis? How close do you track your calories?
You have much bigger issues than your bench press number btw and should focus on those first and foremost.
Second, you need to get your diet straight. If you are having to consume 1800 calories to lose weight at 305 pounds, you either have the worse metabolism known to man or you have metabolic damage.
How much do you love around during the day? How much tv do you watch on a weekly basis? How close do you track your calories?
You have much bigger issues than your bench press number btw and should focus on those first and foremost.
Posted on 10/2/17 at 11:43 am to mindbreaker
What kind of program are you following?
At 305 and trying to drop weight I'd recommend a full body work out 3 times a week.
Starting Strength would be a good one.
At 305 and trying to drop weight I'd recommend a full body work out 3 times a week.
Starting Strength would be a good one.
Posted on 10/2/17 at 12:32 pm to mindbreaker
Make sure your technique is as perfect as can be before you start adding more weight to the bar. From what I've heard, if you want more strength do fewer reps with more weight. More weight will put more pressure on your joints, and can cause you to abandon proper technique for that extra push. Starting off by warming up is excellent, but like others have mentioned, you might be overdoing the warm up and your muscles are fatigued before you can access greater strength. The key, in my opinion, is to find a balance between strength and conditioning through listening to your body and figuring out what works best for you in terms of making progress.
This post was edited on 10/2/17 at 12:37 pm
Posted on 10/2/17 at 1:34 pm to lsu777
quote:
Second, you need to get your diet straight. If you are having to consume 1800 calories to lose weight at 305 pounds, you either have the worse metabolism known to man or you have metabolic damage.
All my blood work comes back fine. At 2500 calories a day I maintain. From what I read and people I've talked to it's actually pretty common when you drop as much weight as I have. I monitor pretty closely and I've stepped on the scale everyday for the last 22 months so I have a pretty good handle on what my body is doing with my intake. As far as metabolic damage I'm not sure what that is or ever heard of it. I can only go off what the doctors tell me during checkups.
quote:
How much do you love around during the day?
I lift for about 1 1/2 hours 4 days a week
I work in a office but have a standing desk that I stand at for at least half the day, Everyday I do at least a three mile bike ride more to exercise my dog than me. 30 minute car ride to work 1 hour home 10 1/2 hour work days and 7 hours sleep I only have about 2 hours a day I can sit on workout days and 4 hours on rest days.
I only have one day off a week currently and I usually spend it playing golf or doing yard work. I'm pretty active.
I understand it sounds nuts that I have to be that strict to lose weight, but that is where my body is at. For reference I was around 310 pounds at 16 years old the last time I was at a "healthy" look and weight I was 6 years old I've never been not overweight.
Posted on 10/2/17 at 1:36 pm to NotoriousFSU
Whoa balls out on those warmups.
Mine is general warmup usually shooting basketball for about 10 mins.
5 pushups
50-60% x3
70% x3
90% x1
Working sets.
Also the answer is hardly ever take more sups and stims. Unless your sups happen to be synthetic hormones, youre just creating expensive piss.
Mine is general warmup usually shooting basketball for about 10 mins.
5 pushups
50-60% x3
70% x3
90% x1
Working sets.
Also the answer is hardly ever take more sups and stims. Unless your sups happen to be synthetic hormones, youre just creating expensive piss.
This post was edited on 10/2/17 at 1:39 pm
Posted on 10/2/17 at 1:43 pm to Capo Losi
quote:
Whoa balls out on those warmups.
That isn't my actual warmup
My warmup is
15 body lunges
20 body squats
15 pushups
30 jumping jacks
The the workout is
15 reps chest to biceps
10-12 chest to biceps
8-10 chest to bicep
3-5 chest to bicep
Increasing weight with reps
3 circuits of chest to bicep changing the exercises with no break in between chest and bicep
3-5 minute break between reps
Posted on 10/2/17 at 1:52 pm to mindbreaker
Ahhhhh ok, well the answer is simple here. Your program isnt aimed directly at strength gains.
I highly recommend checking out Lsu777s write up on Greyskulls LP if strength is what youre after. Ive built my program around that. I Added in volume for aesthetics and conditioning work.
I highly recommend checking out Lsu777s write up on Greyskulls LP if strength is what youre after. Ive built my program around that. I Added in volume for aesthetics and conditioning work.
This post was edited on 10/2/17 at 1:52 pm
Posted on 10/2/17 at 1:54 pm to Capo Losi
quote:
Ahhhhh ok, well the answer is simple here. Your program isnt aimed directly at strength gains
correct and I'm not after huge improvement but after 5 weeks on this program the final bench set hasn't gotten any easier or better I was hoping to at least get to 5 reps on 225. My one rep max last time I did it was a 275.
Posted on 10/2/17 at 2:40 pm to mindbreaker
Have the lower weighted sets gotten easier? Given the rep ranges I'd expect your conditioning and work capacity to have increased, but since there is no progressive overload, no reason for overall strength to have moved much. You're also doing a lot of volume in there, next workout, just try skipping straight to 1 set of 5 on 225 and see what happens. Then do your workout like normal.
Also, it could be a form issue like HFP has suggested.
I got back in the gym a month or 2 ago and with the Greyskulls programming and working heavily on technique on bench I've gone 2x5, 1xAMRAP-
220
222.5
225
227.5
230
232.5
235
237.5
240
240 feels much lighter than the 220 did.
Also, it could be a form issue like HFP has suggested.
I got back in the gym a month or 2 ago and with the Greyskulls programming and working heavily on technique on bench I've gone 2x5, 1xAMRAP-
220
222.5
225
227.5
230
232.5
235
237.5
240
240 feels much lighter than the 220 did.
Posted on 10/2/17 at 2:44 pm to Capo Losi
quote:
Have the lower weighted sets gotten easier
Actually yes they have. Good info guys I appreciate it.
Posted on 10/2/17 at 5:03 pm to mindbreaker
I increased my shoulder workouts and it helped my bench. Try that
Posted on 10/2/17 at 6:23 pm to Capo Losi
quote:
next workout, just try skipping straight to 1 set of 5 on 225 and see what happens
Arnold said he did that to "confuse" the muscles. If he plateau he would just do something off the wall like after warm ups do a super heavy set.
Posted on 10/2/17 at 7:14 pm to mindbreaker
One last thought here now that I understand your program a bit more. Since your higher rep work is getting easier you're definitely stronger and better condition, but those high reps are hampering your strength gains and you seem set on the routine sooo..
Is there any reason you can't reverse the order of the sets. So start with the heavy sets and work your way up to the higher rep sets? Then each week add 2.5 or 5lbs to the bar for all sets. This way you get some of the benefits of a progressive strength program, but you also get to fit in your conditioning/rep work. Same workload, just re-prioritized.
This setup wouldn't be much different than what a lot of us run, with a little less emphasis on strength gains. I run my heavy x5 sets then move on to higher rep assistance work.
You get your maximum effort 3-AMRAP set out the way and proceed on with the rest of your workout. This set wont interfere with the rest of your lighter sets much, but those lighter sets definitely interfere with your heavier set. Make sense?
If you were truly stuck I'd recommend either deloading the bar or switching to incline bench for a period, but I think you can make good gains by re prioritizing your sets.
Is there any reason you can't reverse the order of the sets. So start with the heavy sets and work your way up to the higher rep sets? Then each week add 2.5 or 5lbs to the bar for all sets. This way you get some of the benefits of a progressive strength program, but you also get to fit in your conditioning/rep work. Same workload, just re-prioritized.
This setup wouldn't be much different than what a lot of us run, with a little less emphasis on strength gains. I run my heavy x5 sets then move on to higher rep assistance work.
You get your maximum effort 3-AMRAP set out the way and proceed on with the rest of your workout. This set wont interfere with the rest of your lighter sets much, but those lighter sets definitely interfere with your heavier set. Make sense?
If you were truly stuck I'd recommend either deloading the bar or switching to incline bench for a period, but I think you can make good gains by re prioritizing your sets.
Posted on 10/2/17 at 8:04 pm to mindbreaker
Google “reverse dieting” and check out avatar nutrition. You sound like a prime example. I’d almost bet if you slowly increased your calories (1900 for a week, 2000 the next, etc) your weight loss would increase
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